Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-11-21
THINGS WORTH KNOWING.

A part of the white pepper of commerce Is
bleached with chlorine, hence its inferior
quality.
solution Of thymol, used as a mouth
wash after smoking, win remove the unpleas-
ant odor of tobacco.
A richly cut, solid glass bedstead has been
recently made at Birmingham, England,
factory for Calcutta millionaire. The king
of Burmah also has one
Both Sydenham and Boerhaave, great
names in medicine, asserted that acute pneu-
monias were rarely cured without the alb
straction of forty ounces of blood
NJ E. Julien has been awarded the Cross
of the Order of Leopold in recognition OF ms
services in the application of electricity for
traction purposes, as employed on the brus-
sells tramway lines.
1t has been proved by experiments made
by Professor Leeds at Mount Holly that the
addition of half a grain Of alum to gallon of
impure water viii not only clear it OF the
grit and coloring matter, but will almost ell
tirely rid it of bacteria. Filtering completes
the process and leaves it as pure as would
prolonged boiling. The alum is not percepn-
BE to the taste
Some curious results produced by exploding
marked blocks of gun cotton on flat plates OF
wrought iron have been described by Mr.. c.
T. Monroe The gun cotton blocks were
placed with the lettered side down and the
letters stamped in relief appeared in relief
upon the iron after explosion, while, on the
other hand, the letters depressed in the gun
cotton were also oppressed on the iron plate
In addition to supplying crops with the
necessary moisture rain has distinct manu-
rial value At Rothamsted, the well known
farm of Sir John B. Lawes, it has been
shown that, with an annual rainfall of little
less than thirty-two inches, each acre of land
receives every year in the rain water over
fourteen pounds of pure chlorine, seventeen
pounds of sulphuric acid and between two
and three pounds of ammonia.
The dynamic value of one pound of good
steam coal has been estimated by Prof. W. D.
Rogers as equivalent to the work Of one man
one day, while three tons would represent
his work for twenty years, counting 800
working days in year. He has further
estimated that four foot seam would yield
one ton of good coal to the square yard, and
that one square mile in area would repre-
sent the labor of over 100000 men for
twenty years.
According to Fire and Water, the soda
water tank now appears in a new role-that
of a neat and efficient extinguisher of fire.
Some days ago vessel filled with varnish
was accidentally set ON fire in the cellar of a
Louisville drug store, and it blazed up
through grating in front Of the building as
high as the second floor Before, however,
the flames could gain Roadway in the build
ing the heat had melted the lead pipe con-
nected with the newly charged soda foun-
tain, and the flames were instantly extin-
guished.
In New Orleans, where the soil is water
logged three feet beneath the surface, they
get over the difficulty of putting telegraph
and telephone wires under ground by erect
ing strong towers $50 feet high at intervals,
and bracing them together with cables of
steel wire rope These cables support the
cross arms, etc, to which the telegraph and
telephone wires are attached and the wires
are securely carried above the public streets.
The towers are also utilized for fire extin-
gushing purposes as astandpipe, with nozzies
al different elevations, is fitted to each tower.